The Madness of Hope

Watch and Pray

The alarm woke me out of a dead sleep. 6:15AM was too early to get up on New Years Day, after staying up late to wish all my friends a Happy New Year.
I begin to pray for the twenty year old son of a friend of mine who is undergoing chemo. Soon, sleep had taken over my body again.
Then, while half asleep, I heard Jesus say, “Can you not keep watch with me for ONE hour?” My subconscious state saw Jesus in the garden speaking to Peter, begging him to stay awake and pray. I began to pray again for this precious child of God.
Once again, as did Peter, I fell asleep. Then, I heard Jesus say, “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” (Matthew 26:40-41)
That woke my soul as I realized it was New Year’s Day. This year is bringing in many challenges. I have more speaking dates than I dreamed possible when I first felt God leading me to pursue this avenue for my life. With these engagements come fears of failure, insecurity and self-doubt.
Then there is the constant pull to rely on my own strengths or to desire some of God’s glory for my own. The only way that will not happen is if I continually place my heart and mind into God hands, and pray He will remove any seed of pride before it has a chance to grow.
I firmly believe Jesus was whispering into my heart, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” He knows my weaknesses. He knows my sinful tendencies.
God doesn’t want me to fail because He wants to use me. So, He placed this verse into my heart. I must stay on guard to keep my heart pure and keep in prayer continually. I will be tempted but He can keep me from falling.
This prayer woke me on this New Year’s Day and it will be one of my guiding prayers for 2012. I thank God for impressing on me the need to recognize my weakness and keep in prayer.